Mei help on a bizen katana

Hello.

I recently acquired this bizen katana. I ask for a little help from my friends of nihonto club to determine exactly the swordsmith (omote) and date (ura).

Thanks !!!!

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ura.jpg1.17 MB
ura2.jpg1.23 MB

Sukesada

Omote: BIZEN KUNI OSAFUNE SUKESADA SAKU
Ura: TENSHOu(?) NI(?) NEN HACHI GATSU HI

Not sure if the nengo is TENSHOu or not - it is definitely TEN-something. TENSHOu starts in 1573.
Not sure if the year number is "2", but I think so.

Pete

Well done Pete

I agree with you Pete. Gosh,you're definetly a champion at this exercice !

In my opinion, on ura side, it's surely tensho era kanjis and "two" as well.
When the blade will be cleaned and polished I'll have a better look and make an update on the forum.

As a consequence the translation of "tensho ni nen hachigatsu hi" would be "a day of august 1574". Is that correct ?

Sylvain

1574

I was able to read this one by myself - yay! But when it is more difficult, my wife helps me.

Yes, 1574 would be correct.
Note that August may not be exactly true, because many, many blades are dated either August or February. This is because these are "auspicious" months. So, if the blade was really made in June, it was often dated August...

Also note that Sukesada is a common name for gimei (false signature). So be careful, if you are going to invest in sending it to Japan for a polish.
But a gimei can still be a high-quality blade...

Pete